Who Knew? Sequel to The Host
by simplyleah
Summary: *ON HIATUS* Sequel to the Host, starting off from the last page, when Burns is introducing himself. Pairings: Wanda&Ian Jared&Mel Kyle
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This continues from exactly where the Host left off. The last page is below in Italic. My first FanFic! Please R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Host or any of the characters, nor am i Stephenie Meyer (sadly)**

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**EPILOGUE: Page 619, The Host by Stephenie Meyer:**

_The redhead spoke for the first time in a distinctly gentle tenor voice. "No, it's okay, Nate. See? They've got one of their own." He pointed straight at me, and Ian tensed. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's gone native."_

_Burns grinned at me, then crossed the empty space, the no-man's-land between the two tribes, with his hand stretched out towards me. _

_I stepped out from behind Ian, ignoring his muttered warning, abruptly comfortable and sure. _

_I liked the way Burns had phrased it. _Gone native.

_Burns stopped in front of me, lowering his hand a bit to compensate for the considerable difference in our heights. I took his hand—it was hard and callused next to my delicate skin—and shook it._

"_Burns Living Flowers," he introduced himself._

_My eyes widened at his name. Fire World—how unexpected._

"_Wanderer," I told him._

"_Its . . . extraordinary to meet you, Wanderer. And here I thought I was one of a kind."_

"_Not even close," I said, thinking of Sunny back in the caves. Perhaps we were none of us as rare as we thought. _

_He raised an eyebrow at my answer, intrigued. _

"_Is that so?" he said. "Well, maybe there's some hope for this planet, after all."_

"_It's a strange world," I murmured, more to myself than to the other native soul._

"_The strangest," he agreed. _

**~X~**

I heard Ian shift uncomfortably behind me, as well as Jared and Melanie. Nate's gaze raked my small figure, taking in my calm expression and silvery eyes.

"Well," he said finally, breaking the odd silence—not uncomfortable, really. Just odd. "What have we got here? Yer a little one, aren't ye?"

I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks, undoubtedly turning my face a lovely shade of pink. Ha. Lovely.

"I suppose," I said, in answer to his rhetorical question.

Nate chuckled and looked behind me. "Where'd you find this one?"

"That's a long story," Jared said, quite stiffly. "And one I'd much rather not go into."

Nate held up his hands, palms forward, in mock-surrender. "Hey, that's all right. Ours is quite a story as well, isn't it, Burns?"

Burns, who had still been looking at me, shook his head, as if trying to rid his mind of thoughts. "Yeah," he said, now looking at Nate.

"Uh," Ian said nervously, shifting his weight, "we were just heading out on a raid . . ."

Nate nodded. "We were doing the same. Running low on supplies and such. Burns here, he's the one who gets us our stuff, while we just are here to help him out."

"Yeah," Melanie spoke up, "that's how we do raids, too."

Jared nodded, seeming to have relaxed. "Where are you guys living?"

"Up in the mountains," Nate replied.

"Guys . . ." I said quietly, "don't we need to get going?"

Ian nodded, looking at me happily; he was just dying to leave.

"Where were you folks heading?" Nate asked.

"Up north," Jared said.

"Hmm," Nate said, looking at Burns. "We had better get going, too."

Burns sighed. "All right," he muttered.

They moved to go, picking up dropped riffles and discarded items. Burns stayed where he was, watching me with an odd expression.

I was honestly itching to start moving again, but I still wanted time to talk with Burns about how he had come to be with the humans. Not only that, but to see how hard it had been for him, and whether or not he was treated the way I was.

Suddenly, Burns turned and walked towards Nate. He whispered something in his ear, and Nate hesitated for a moment before nodding, and walked over to Jared.

I caught some of what Nate was saying. ". . . would it be too much trouble if Burns tagged along? He wants some time to talk with Wanderer . . ." I looked away from him, feeling eyes on me. Burns was watching my hands. I was playing with my thumbs nervously, picking at my nails.

"Hey, you all right, Wanda?" I looked up to see Ian's concerned face looming over me. He placed his hand over my own, stopping me from moving them.

I blushed and nodded. "I'm fine." I hated the blushing! God, how had Pet dealt with it?

Ian brushed his fingers over my burning cheeks. "You sure?" I just nodded this time, looking down at my feet.

Ian sighed. "Fine," he mumbled, turning around and heading in Jared's direction. "What's the plan?" I heard him ask.

"No clue," Jared said, "Nate said Burns wants . . ." His voice grew too quiet for me to hear.

I shook my head and looked over at Burns. "I thought you guys needed to get supplies?"

Burns shrugged. "Not that badly. We mainly came because Nate and the others were just dying to leave our caves."

I smiled. "Kind of gets annoying, being stuck in there, doesn't it?"

Burns chuckled. "That it does, Wanderer."

I frowned, noticing the double meaning to my words. It didn't suck, not really. It especially wasn't horrible for me, knowing that I wasn't taking someone's life away by remaining in this body.

"How long have you been with them?" he asked suddenly.

"The humans?" he nodded. "Um . . . almost a year, maybe. Not long, though. You?"

"Three or four years," he replied.

"Oh," I said, looking over at Melanie, who was chatting with Aaron and Brandt.

"Burns?" I heard Nate call. "Not this time. Sorry, kid."

Burns nodded, as if he expected as much. "It's all right." He looked over at me. "See you around?"

I smiled, "Around?"

Burns chuckled. "Seemed fitting," he shrugged. "Maybe we'll run into each other on another raid. You never know." Burns turned on his heal, following his retreating group.

"Bye Burns!" I said to his back.

He shook his head but didn't turn, only slightly raising his hand to wave over his shoulder.

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**How was it? Please Review! Also, i really need an idea; something is forming, but i really dont know how its going to happen . . . HELP????**

**~~~~~~~~Leah:)**

**PS: Don't forget to review!**

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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry that last chapter was so short:)**** What did you guys think? I hope you like this one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Host or any of the characters, nor am I Stephenie Meyer (sadly.) **

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I watched him go in silence, and jumped when a large, warm, hand slipped around my own.

"Are you _sure _you're all right, Wanda?" Ian asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." When Ian still looked unsure, I said, "Really."

Ian sighed. "All right, I'll shut up," he turned around, pulling me along with him. We approached the van and large moving truck quickly. Ian led me to the passenger seat of the van, opening the door quickly and placing me in the seat.

Soon, he was getting in the seat behind me, reaching around my head rest to rub my shoulders. Jared got in next to me, and Melanie got in next to Ian. I saw Aaron and Brandt getting into the large moving truck behind us.

"All this time, we have never run into another group of people," Jared mumbled, shaking his head and starting the car.

"I know," Ian replied. "That was really weird."

"So," Melanie added, "was the fact they had a soul with them."

"I thought it was cool," I argued as Jared began driving. "Finding another soul who believes in humans as much as I do and wants to help them, I mean."

"Mm," Melanie said, thinking. "I wonder how many others there are. Like us and like you."

"Yeah," Jared said, his eyes on the road. "It's sort of weird, thinking that people are still out there, hiding. When we're in the caves, it's hard to remember that we're not the only ones."

"It's like we're in our own little world," I mused.

"Who knew?"

**X~X~X**

The raid passed by quickly; we didn't go as far north as planned. During most of the drives, we stayed silent, unless discussing strategy, all of us lost in our own thoughts. When we stopped for the night at hotels, the guys roomed together, leaving Mel and I to ourselves. I couldn't stop thinking about Burns, and wondered how many other souls were like us, 'going native,' as he had put it.

All of our plans went by smoothly, and soon we were driving home, the truck filled with the supplies we had managed to get.

"Shit," I heard Jared mutter, and opened my eyes a little, sitting up.

"What's wrong?" I asked, yawning. Mel and Aaron were asleep in the back; Ian and Brandt were in the truck, which was about twenty minutes ahead of us—we had stopped at McDonalds.

"Looks like they're doing some sort of . . . check," Jared whispered, trying not to wake anyone. I opened my eyes wider. Sure enough, a Seeker car was parked on the side of the road ahead, its owner talking to someone in the care in front of us, paying us no mind.

I rubbed my eyes, stretching. "Switch with me! Quick!" Jared and I quickly traded spots, me taking the wheel, and Jared shutting his eyes. "Turn your head to the window." Jared did what I asked, and my heart beat rapidly as I continued to drive forward, stopping behind the other car.

I felt my eyelids growing heavy as we waited. "AH!" I exclaimed, struggling to keep my eyes open. The car in front of us drove away, and the Seeker waved for me to pull forward. The Seeker was tall, no more than twenty-five. He had blue eyes and curly blonde hair.

"Hello," he said chirpily as I lowered my window, stifling a yawn. "Shines Down Below," he said, sticking out a hand.

"Lights Up The Sky," I mumbled, taking the offered hand and shaking it. "What's going on?" I asked him.

"We had a call about humans in this area," Shines Down Below said matter-of-factly, "and are just asking people who drive by if they have seen anything suspicious."

I widened my eyes for dramatic effect. "Oh my god! Has anyone seen anything?"

"No, not yet," he said soothingly, "I wouldn't worry, Lights Up The Sky. We think it may have just been a false alarm."

"Oh," I said, sighing in relief, "well, that's good." The Seeker nodded, and patted the side of the car.

"Yes it is. Please call if you see anything! Have a nice night!" He stepped away from the car and waved as I drove away, my eyelids threatening to drop. Jared shifted next to me.

"You did good, Wanda," he whispered. "You look exhausted, though."

I laughed. "Well, that seems fitting, considering I _am _exhausted." I made a left, turning down another street.

"Switch, Wanda. You look like you're going to pass out any second."

"SHIT!" I shouted suddenly. "Jared, how do we know Ian and Brandt didn't go this way and get caught?"

Jared sighed, "Wanda, they went the other way, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, taking a deep breath, "right. Ha."

"Wanda, c'mon," Jared said. "We have another hour or so until we're home. Let me drive the rest of the way."

I sighed but didn't argue, pulling over. We switched seats quickly, and I felt my eyes threatening to shut before I had so much as put my seat belt on. Jared sighed and I heard the buckle click; Jared had buckled me in.

I curled up, pulling my legs to my chest, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep in mere moments.

**X~X~X**

"Wake up, Wanda, honey." Someone was shaking my shoulder.

"No!" I argued. "One more minute?"

The person chuckled. It sounded like Ian. "We're home. I can carry you there, and you can go back to sleep when we get to the room, okay?" It was definitely Ian. "Jared, Brandt, AaroXn, and Melanie already started bringing all of the stuff inside, and they're getting some people to come and help."

I forced my eyes open. I was curled up in the passenger seat of the van, Ian holding the door open with one hand, while the other was on my shoulder. "Fine," I mumbled, starting to climb from the car. I tripped getting down, and felt Ian's strong arms encircling my tiny waist. He chuckled again, his breath warm against my neck. He lifted me up and kissed my forehead gently, softly, his lips lingering there for a moment. I heard the car door slamming and closed my eyes again, sighing contentedly.

"Why are you so tired? Weren't you sleeping earlier? Mel and Aaron were." Ian whispered into my hair as he carried me back to the cave. How he could see so well in the dark, I had no idea.

"Some seekers," I mumbled, my words slurring together, "were doing checks, so I had to drive . . ." I yawned.

Ian was silent, and I drifted back to sleep.

**X~X~X**

I hugged the warm pillow tighter to my chest, not wanting to wake up. How had the pillow grown so hard? I opened my eyes slowly. It was Ian, not a pillow! I giggled and slapped my hand over my mouth, not wanting to wake him. Ian had circles forming under his eyes, and even in sleep he seemed stressed or worried. I couldn't decide which.

I slowly climbed from the bed, trying not to wake Ian. Somehow, I managed to move the red door and leave the room without making too much noise. The hallway was silent, but when I grew closer to the kitchen, I heard voices.

A few moments later I was in the kitchen, three pairs of eyes looking in my direction. Doc, Melanie, and Jared were out there. They were talking in hushed tones, all of them looking extremely disturbed for some reason.

"What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"Kitty, a girl from Nate's group, showed up yesterday, four hours or so before we got here." Jared said.

"And . . ." I urged.

"She said something about Burns being taken by some Seekers," Melanie said after a moment.

"What?" I said, honestly not believing her.

"It's true," a shaky voice said behind me. "He's gone. They've got him, just like we knew they would eventually."

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**How was it? Once again, i know its short, just like the one before it. . . but its 2:38 AM right now, so cut me some slack!**

**Review**

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**Leah:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: No comments? Really?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Host or its characters, other than Kitty (her full name is Katherine, by the way). **

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I spun around, looking for the source of the voice.

The girl had a small, fragile-looking build with long, curly, red hair and bright green eyes that glistened with unshed tears. She was pale with a light spray of freckles across her nose, nothing much. I heard her sharp intake of breath when she looked into my reflective eyes and watched her trip over her own feet in her rush to get away from me. Doc was by her in a second, helping her up, but also holding her in place.

"Kitty, this is Wanda, and is no different than Burns. I need you to take a deep breath for me. Can you do that?" Doc asked, and Kitty nodded, doing as he said.

I watched her warily. "Sorry," she said, smiling. "I'm not afraid or angry, Wanda. It just took me by surprise, is all. Nate told us that he had run into another soul like Burns when he met you guys . . . I just wasn't really thinking about that when I came here. I was just . . ." Kitty sighed and pulled her hair out of her face, tying it up into a loose pony, some shorter hairs falling from the band and framing her heart-shaped face. She laughed humorlessly. "I really have no clue why I came here," she admitted. "Maybe just to see if anyone had heard anything . . ."

I looked over at Jared, biting my lip. He nodded. I turned back to Kitty. "Kitty, when was he taken?"

Kitty bit her thumb nervously. "It's like morning, right?" I nodded. "It was like yesterday morning, really early. Sometime around one or two?" she said, her uncertainty making her words into a question.

"See, the thing is we got back from a raid late last night and there were Seekers doing—well, not checks, exactly. They were just asking if anyone had seen anything suspicious. Something about them getting a call about humans in the area. That was about an hour away from here. Its possible that it wasn't a human sighting, but something else, something that they don't want us to know about."

"_Us_ as in souls?" Kitty asked. When I nodded, she continued, "But aren't you guys like completely honest and all?"

I half-smiled at her assumption. "Basically, yes. They weren't necessarily _lying, _though. At least not in the regular sense of the word. It was more of a protective move."

"What would they do to him?" Kitty asked, so quietly I had to strain my ears.

"That really depends," I said, "on what sort of Seekers, or souls caught him. For example, my Seeker was terrible, and would have had no problem shooting me in the head." Kitty winced. "But," I continued, "that's not really _normal _for souls. They might have just, I don't know, taken Burns out of his host and sent him to another planet. Maybe back to Fire World," I mused.

"They wouldn't hurt him, though, would they?" Kitty asked.

"In a usual case, no," I replied, "Never. But this isn't exactly normal. And they clearly know that Burns had 'gone native' so they may press him for answers about where you guys are hiding."

Kitty bit her lip and was silent for a moment before nodding. She pulled her hair from the elastic and ran her fingers through it nervously. "Thanks, Wanda," she said finally.

"Don't wo—" I stopped speaking when I hears the voice

"WANDA!" I heard someone shout again, the voice on the verge of cracking. _Ian, _I thought. He had no clue where I was.

"Uh, sorry Kitty, but I should get going it. Ian sounds on the verge of losing it," I added, when she looked at me with questioning eyes.

I slipped past her and Doc, running into the caves, running smack into something warm and hard. I fell back onto the floor, my elbow hitting the ground. I felt sharp pain shoot up my arm and my eyes water. I struggled to get up. Warm hands wrapped tightly around me. I looked up to see Ian looking down on me, his face red with anger.

"Wanda, why didn't you leave a note?" he growled.

"I didn't want to wake you up!" I said defensively.

"I don't give a damn if you didn't want to wake me up! You should have anyways!" Ian yelled, and when I cowered away, his face drained of anger and was replaced by concern. "Sorry," he whispered hugging me to his chest. "Finding out about Burns last night really got all of my nerves on end."

"Yeah. I was just talking to Kitty," I said. As I spoke, my elbow began to hurt very much, gray spots appearing in my vision, reminding me of the fall. "Ian, can you look at my elbow? My left one?" His eyebrows pulled together in confusion, but he did as I asked.

Without looking up from my arm, Ian shouted, "DOC!" Ian's eyes were wide and his nose was scrunched up as if he disliked what it was that he saw. I heard Doc walk up behind me and frowned.

"Yeah, Ian?" Doc asked, seemingly confused.

"Look at her left elbow," Ian said stiffly. Doc gasped as he did as Ian said.

"Ian, please take her to the hospital. I'll be there in a moment." And with that, Doc was running down the dark tunnel, not wasting a moment.

Ian went the opposite direction, towards the hospital. He held me tightly and securely in his arms, careful not to move me too much. When we reached the hospital, he sat me down gently on one of the cots—which were relatively uncomfortable, if I say so myself.

Just moments later, Doc reappeared, Candy following shortly behind.

"Wanda, could you please, er, take off your shirt?" Doc asked nervously.

I did as he asked; I had a tank top, as well as a bra, on underneath. No, correction: I _tried _to do as he asked. When I tried to move my elbow to take off the article of clothing, it protested in pain. I yelped in pain—and surprise—and froze, truly trying not to move.

Doc smiled apologetically, "Maybe I should have given you the No Pain first?"

I frowned. _Thanks, Doc, _I thought, each mental word layered heavily with sarcasm. Doc walked to the cabinets, taking out the No Pain container and handing it to Ian. I opened my mouth for Ian to put it in.

Soon I was enveloped in a dream-like state, feeling light and happy. I took off my shirt with ease, but Doc still winced as he looked at my elbow. It was then that I realized something: I still had no clue what it is that I had done, or how severe my injury was. "Doc?" I said, "What is it exactly that I did to my elbow?"

"You seem to have torn the skin and broken some of the bone; sort of ground the corner in an odd way. . . How did this happen, exactly?"

I looked at Ian for a moment. "I ran into Ian—literally—and fell backwards. My elbow hit the ground . . . but definitely not hard enough to break the bone."

Doc looked at me and bit his lip.

"What's wrong?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Well . . ." Doc glanced at Ian and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Your bones may be weakening—becoming fragile—from something called bone atrophy."

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**A/N: Sorry about all of these chapters being so short! Also, sorry that this chapter is so. . . slow. I'm still sort of experimenting! I'm not sure if Doc should be right or wrong, or if i should throw something ELSE into the mix, making it more of a Tital wave than calm seas ; calm seas suck in writing, but thats what this is turning into!**

**Please comment; i need more ideas! I will not turn ANY down, and each will go under consideration! **

**I almost have the next chapter done, but im not going to put it up until i get at least 10 reviews**

**-Leah:)**

**PS:The Review button is right there**

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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: All right, here's the chapter for all of my **_**fabulous **_**reviewers . . . **

Keilagh---HOLLYZ---Love Ian---Crimson-Snow96—BitexmexEdwardx—Marissa-W—Kady—TopKat90—used staples

**. . . especially **HOLLYZ**, **Crimson-Snow96**, and **Love Ian**! Thanks to you guys, I have more than 10 reviews!**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter answers everyone's questions, and I know it's a bit boring, but I needed to use a chapter for explanatory reasons.**

**Also, to **used staples**, no, you **_**cannot **_**use Heal to get rid of bone atrophy (more commonly known as osteoporosis). Read this chapter and you'll learn more about it.**

**Discalmer: I do not own the Host (or its characters) and nor am I Stephenie Meyer (I wish). I only own my plotline and Kitty.**

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"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Ian exploded, throwing his hands into the air. Candy, who had been standing there, took a step back and looked as if she would like to run from the room.

"Well, Ian," Doc responded, extremely calm—too calm, if you ask me, "Bone atrophy is a sort of illness of the bones that weakens them—causes them to become much too fragile, sometimes breaking at the most gentlest falls. Sometimes it's caused by not using your bones enough, so they start to . . . just shut down, basically. They sort of become brittle, and are not functioning properly."

"HOW DO YOU CURE IT?" Ian shouted, his face turning bright red in anger as his eyes over flowed with tears. Now Candy _did _run from the room.

"Ian," I said quietly, putting my finger under his chin and tilting his face to me. "Look at me," I whispered to him gently. He looked down at me and all of the anger drained from his face, like it had in the tunnel earlier, leaving desperation and anguish behind. "Why don't we take a deep breath, alright? Doc can fix me up, use Heal and what-not, and then we'll go eat breakfast, okay? We can discuss this later."

Ian looked at me, his face now completely void of emotion. I bit down on my full lower lip, holding back a sob. It came out as a strangled, coughing sound. Ian ground his teeth together, his eyes filled with pain. Not physical, but emotional.

"Oh, Ian," I whispered brokenly, my voice breaking. "No, honey, it'll be okay."

He looked at me for a moment. "You promise?"

"I promise," I whispered.

Ian took a deep breath then turned to Doc, "Please fix her up; we'll talk about this after lunch." Doc nodded, and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes, his extremely pale complexion, and how red his eyes were—but, under the circumstances, I decided not to comment; I'd talk to him later.

Doc fixed my elbow silently and quickly, but he wouldn't meet my eyes—mine or Ian's. After my elbow was completely fine—or as fine as it could be—Ian took me in his arms, tucking my head under his own, his chin resting on my blonde hair. I gently pulled back so I could look into his bright—now glistening—eyes.

"I love you," I said, "And I'm going to be okay. You don't need to worry." I looked over at Doc, who was staring at his feet. "Neither do you." I hopped from the cot and began walking to the entrance to the make-shift hospital. "We'll see you later, Doc."

**~X~X~X~**

Ian refused to leave my side. He was so void of all emotions what-so-ever that I could hardly bear to look into his face. He was almost stone-like, his eyes just a set of blue gems that seemed to be taking note of my each and every movement—to such an extent that I could hardly resist the urge to fidget.

Finally, lunch came, and before I—or anyone else—could speak one word, Ian had whisked me out of the kitchen and to our make-shift hospital. As promised, Doc was waiting for us nervously, leaning against one of the empty cots.

"Talk," Ian said.

All it took was that one word, and Doc began to speak, the words coming out in a rush. "There is no specific surgical procedure for bone atrophy—more or less the same thing as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a bone disease occurring especially in women, in which the bones become very porous, break easily, and heal slowly. It may lead to curvature of the spine after the vertebrae collapse. Loss of bone density is managed by altering mineral balance in blood, which is affected by things such as kidney function, hormone levels, diet, exercise, and absorption characteristics of the intestines. Specific problems caused by osteoporosis can be fixed by surgery—spinal surgeries and hip replacements are two examples."

"And . . ." I urged.

"And," Doc continued, looking at Ian, "Nothing can be done about it until we know specifically what is going on in Wanda's body."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Ian asked nervously. I was happy to see he wasn't completely stone-like as of the moment—even if nervousness is the only emotion he was letting through.

"_You _can't really do anything," Doc said. "But Wanda should go to a hospital of sorts soon, before she can really hurt herself."

I looked up at Ian. He seemed to be having some sort of panic attack; his breathing was coming in short little gasps, his hands were shaking, his eyes were glazed over. I rubbed my eyes roughly with my hands before hopping off of the cot I had been resting on and walking towards where he was lounging. "Ian," I said, sounding much more calm and cool than I felt. "Please calm down. We don't even know how bad I am yet. We don't know any specifics. So why don't we just lay low for the next few days, then I'll go see a Healer, okay?"

Ian, seemingly unable to speak, just nodded, his breathing having return to normal. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Ian whispered, "Thanks, Doc. Really. I'm sorry I flipped." Without waiting for a reply, Ian continued, "I'm going to take Wanda back to the room now. We'll talk to you later." And with that Ian scooped me up into his strong, yet gentle, arms, grimacing at some thought. He carried me through the empty (everyone was still at lunch) tunnels to our room silently. When we reached our destination, Ian placed me gently on the ground for a moment, so he could open the miss-matched doors, before picking me back up and carrying me to the bed, where he put me down. He walked swiftly to the doors and shut them than came up to me, lifting me up with his right hand while pulling the covers down with the other. He set me down on the bed and took off my shirt gently, so I was just in my tank top. He turned around and grabbed a pair of pajama shorts, which he handed to me. Then he took off his own shirt, as well as his pants, so he was just in his blue plaid boxers.

I lay down on the mattress, pulling the sheets snugly around me as Ian walked to the other side and climbed in next to me. He cuddled me against his warm, bare chest, and kissed my lips softly. His lips lingered on mine for a moment before he wrapped his extremely muscled arms around my tiny waist and pulled me even closer to his chest, but still kept his hold loose, as if I was some fragile china doll.

"You're going to be okay," he whispered into my hair. I think he was saying it not only to convince me, but also to convince himself.

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**How was it? Do you hate me? Love me? Sorry I didn't go into Burns in this chapter; im still trying to figure out his story. I'll tell you something, though: Kitty's going to be the one who tells it. His story, I mean. Probably in the next chapter:)**

**Leah:)**

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